When Pigasso Met Mootisse (film)
When Pigasso Met Mootisse is a 2026 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Owen Laramore Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The seventeenth theatrical Owen Laramore film, it was directed by Gary Krisel and stars James Franco and Peter Dinklage as the eponymous characters, alongside Jim Hanks, Sarah Paxton, Stephen Root, and Christina Hendricks while Krisel narrates. The film was released theatrically in the United States on August 29, 2025. It earned $323 million and received mixed reviews from critics, praising the animation and the performances of Franco and Dinklage, while criticizing its inferiority to the source material. Plot In a world entirely populated by anthropomorphic talking pigs and bulls led by a pig named Harsh (who is also a art critic), Pigasso and Mootise are a young pig and bull. While the other pigs roll in the mud and play games, Pigasso paints anything and everything in a most unusual way. Not interested in bull fighting like the other bulls, Mootisse paints big, bold, bright pictures. In time, Pigasso and Mootisse become art superstars. Pigasso instantly falls in love with a female pig named Debicki. An art attack set by a black bull couple named Backson and Halle prompts Pigasso and Mootisse to look for a peaceful place to paint without distractions. Pigasso and Mootisse welcome each other as neighbors at first glance, but soon, things begin to change. One day, Pigasso criticizes one of Mootisse's paintings, to which Mootisse makes fun of one of Pigasso's paintings. Mootisse calls Pigasso an "Art Hog". Pigasso calls Mootisse a "Mad Cow". They call each other names and things really get out of hand, resulting in a modern art mess. They storm off into their houses. Mootisse turns the outside of his house into a monster-sized "Moosterpiece". Not to be outdone, Pigasso turns his farm into a "Pork of Art". To avoid another mess, they retreat into their houses and pull down the shades. With this presenting a problem, they build a huge wooden fence down the middle of their road without a word to each other. After a while, Pigasso and Mootisse realize they miss each other and, not knowing how to apologize, they let their paintbrushes do the talking. By the time they finish painting each side of the fence. They sprint around to each other's sides. They take down the fence to take it to an art museum, but suddenly, Backson and Halle steal it. Debicki gives Pigasso and Mootisse a ride to stop Backson and Halle, and the race goes on. When Pigasso and Mootisse win, the museum buys the fence, and Backson and Halle are arrested. Harsh and the art critics call the fence "incredible". Cast * James Franco as Pigasso * Peter Dinklage as Mootisse * Jim Hanks and Sarah Paxton as Backson and Halle * Stephen Root as Harsh * Christina Hendricks as Debicki * Courtney B. Vance as Cop * Gary Krisel as Narrator Production Development In May 2024, Disney announced Owen Laramore Entertainment was making a film based on Nina Laden's When Pigasso Met Mootisse. Like many films based on books, the film filled out is 79 minutes by adding new characters and subplots significantly different from the original story similar to ''The Bog Baby''. Gary Krisel directed and wrote the film. He wrote the screenplay with Jonathan Goldstein. Niki Marvin produced the film. It also used non-photo realistic rendering to design the paintings for the film. Casting James Franco and Peter Dinklage were revealed to be voicing Pigasso and Mootisse. Jim Hanks and Sarah Paxton were cast as Backson and Halle, a villainous bull couple. Christina Hendricks was cast as Pigasso's love interest, Debicki. Stephen Root joined the cast as a art critic named Harsh. Krisel was also narrator. Music Christopher Lennertz was revealed to be composing the film's score in August 2025. The titular song, "When Pigasso Met Mootisse", was performed by Julia Michaels. Reception Box office The film grossed $153 million in the United States and Canada, and $170 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $323 million during its initial theatrical run. Critical response When Pigasso Met Mootisse received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 56%. The consensus reads, "The animation quality and the performances of James Franco and Peter Dinklage are just as well as ever, but the noisily incoherent humor makes it hit-or-miss to the source material". Metacritic signed the film to a score of 52 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a score of 50% and a 52% "definite recommend". David Edelstein of Vulture gave the film a positive review, saying, "When Pigasso Met Mootise is a charm of Nina Laden". Ty Burr of The Boston Globe said, "Is Nina Laden in her trance yet?". Kristen Page-Kirby of The Washington Post felt the film had the same problem she had with ''Bambi'', saying, "Part of this problem is that is fools me to see James Franco as a pig and Peter Dinklage as a bull. These are two talented comedians. Let's let them do their own stuff. Don't bury them under technology".